As West Virginia took down Bethune-Cookman on Saturday, nine players scored, and four players scored 12 or more points.
Distributing the scoring is no accident for this Mountaineer team as they are continuing to promote a team-first approach, especially on offense.
"I know I got to do a little bit extra, but at the same time, I just do whatever my team needs me to do to win," WVU's Javon Small said.
Small finished the game with a game-high 27 points, and it's the fifth time this season he's scored at least 23 points in a game. Small is no stranger to college basketball, having played at East Carolina and Oklahoma State. However, Small says he sees a level of unselfishness here at West Virginia.
"My teammates are all about the team, all about doing what they have to do, all about their roles. It's really hard to be the team. We know we don't have the most talent in the country, but the team would beat talent any day," Small said.
In terms of guys trying to find their roles, Sencire Harris and Jake Auer are two guys who have embraced what they can do. Auer came to West Virginia to be more of a practice player, but he's gotten to go in the game in the closing minutes and has produced in back-to-back games. Still, though, he's not worried about playing time, just trying to help the Mountaineers win.
"Whatever role coach wants me in, I'm going to accept it no matter what. So, it's fun. I mean, it's been a different role than I'm used to, but whatever the team needs, I'm there for," Auer said.
Another guy who has embraced his role is Sencire Harris. Harris has primarily been the top defender for the Mountaineers, but he's also starting to scratch the surface of showing what he can do offensively.
Harris scored 12 points on 4-for-9 shooting, with four points coming at the free throw line on Saturday. Like Auer, he too, knows his role is to be the best defender, and the ability to score is a plus.
"We still continue to play what we are. These guys know I'm the best defender, and I bring the energy every night, and they feed off of it. We just keep playing defense hard as we continue to play defense hard as a team. The more we're connected, these guys are able to guard at a high level, so we ain't missing nothing," Harris said.
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